Coast To Coast: "Global Financial Crisis: A Corporate Governance Problem"

Abstract

U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis of year 2007 which turned into Global financial crisis in year 2008 has brought corporate governance practices back under the spotlight. Global financial crisis was a mix of macro-economic policy, financial regulations, politics and corporate governance weaknesses. Various studies point to governance problems in banks as the key factor (Kashayp, 2010). Out of the many corporate governance variables like board, compensation, shareholder rights, risk management etc researchers have identified board issues as an object warranting immediate attention (Kirkpatrick, 2008). Causes and symptoms of the global financial crisis are very similar to Asian Financial Crisis of 1997; many researchers blamed weak corporate governance as one of the causes of crisis (Stiglitz, 1998, Harvey and Roper, 1999 and Greenspan, 1999). Canada which has performed much better in the global financial crisis as compared to any other industrialized economy can become a real-time lesson for rest of the world, the lesson, that prudence and good regulations work in long run.